This invention pertains to the field of shredders. More specifically, the invention relates to a support for a drive system in a paper shredder.
In order to destroy documents to preserve their confidentiality, shredders exist which cut the paper into narrow strips or chips. Typically, the cutting is achieved by a pair of cutting cylinders having a series of circular cutters arranged along the axis of a shaft. The cutters of one shaft are offset so that the cutters pass between the cutters of the other shaft. In addition, the cutters may be either a straight cut type, which produces narrow strips of paper, or a cross cut type, which produces small paper chips.
Generally, the cutting cylinders of a shredder are driven by a drive system that includes a motor and a series of gears and gear shafts. Typically, screws are used to hold the motor in the correct position and fasten it to the housing of the shredder. This results in extra parts, labor, cost, and time in assembling and manufacturing the shredder. In addition, a gear box or gear plate is normally used to hold the gears and gear shafts of the drive system in place. The use of a gear box or gear plate also requires extra parts, labor, cost, and time in assembling and manufacturing the shredder.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a shredder with a support for the drive system that does not require the extra parts, labor, cost, and time in assembling and manufacturing the shredder that are created by screwing the motor to the housing or by mounting the gears and gear shafts with a gear box or gear plate. In the present invention, a support for the motor is provided comprising at least one pair of opposing cradles that are integral with the housing. The present invention also provides a support for the gears and gear shafts that comprises at least one pair of opposing cradled ribs which are also integral with the housing. As a result of these supports for the drive system, the shredder of the present invention is an improvement over prior art shredders in that the shredder and drive system of the present invention are easily and quickly assembled with relatively little labor, low cost, and few parts.